Perennial, upto 50 cm tall herbs with simple or branched rootstock, basally bearing previous years petiolar remains. Stems several, erect, densely whitish arachnoid, 5 – 7 mm in diameter. Leaves in basal rosette and cauline, basal on 3.5 – 5 cm long petioles, narrowly lanceolate or lanceolate-elliptic, 6 – 20 (-25) cm long, (1-) 1.2 – 2   cm wide, unlobed to lyrately lobed, glabrous or sparsely hairy above, densely whitish-grey hairy beneath, margins entire or occasionally pinnatifid, with acute apices; cauline leaves distant, few, sessile, ovate, dentate-margined, acute. Capitula usually solitary, on stem apices, 2.5 – 3 cm across. Involucre campanulate, 2 – 2.5 cm in diameter. Phyllaries 4 – 5-seriate, apically acute to acuminate, outer narrowly ovate-elliptic, 10 – 18 mm long, 1.5 – 4 mm broad, median phyllaries akin to outer and  subequal in length, 1.5 – 3 mm wide, inner phyllaries linear, 15 – 20 mm long, 1.5 – 2.5 mm wide, acute. Receptacular bristles 6 – 8 mm long, light brown. Corolla purple or bluish purple, 12 – 25 mm long, tube 10 – 13 mm long, limb 6 – 9 mm long, lobes 4 – 5 mm long. Anthers blackish, ca 8 mm long including ca 1.5 mm long tails. Cypselas cylindrical, 5 – 6 mm long, brown, ribbed, glabrous, shortly crowned at apices. Pappus biseriate, yellowish brown,  outer bristles 2 – 5 mm long, scabrid, inner bristles 8 – 15 mm long.